The Kentucky Headhunters (top right), with roots in the western Kentucky community of Edmonton, shot to fame in the 1980s with hits like “Dumas Walker” and are still recording and performing.

Exile was formed in the early 1970s in Richmond as the Exiles, and topped the pop charts with the ballad “Kiss You All Over;” the group has since found more success in the country genre.

Other inductees in the contemporary category are Paducah’s Steven Curtis Chapman and the late Skeeter Davis, a native of northern Kentucky.

In the pioneer category, the inductees are Emory and Linda Martin, Old Joe Clark and the Hilltoppers (bottom right), who had a string of hits in the 1950s, such as “Love Walked In.” The group was formed on the campus of what would become Western Kentucky University.

The April, 2013 induction ceremony will be held in Lexington.
(Kentucky Headhunters photo courtesy of www.rickyleephelps.com; photo of The Hilltoppers on the Ed Sullivan Show courtesy of www.proaxis.com)